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MARCH 2018 • FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • 97
be some waste," says Ankeny. Implementing a plan, however,
has helped Reid Health get closer to that goal.
MGM Resorts Launches Food Donation Program
Following the success of a pilot program at ARIA Resort &
Casino Las Vegas Resort, MGM Resorts plans to roll the dice on
its food donation program at some of its other properties, includ-
ing the Bellagio, MGM Grand, The Mirage and Mandalay Bay.
MGM Resorts will also continue its program at ARIA. MGM
Resorts provided a 2-year, $768,000 grant to Three Square, the
receiving food bank, for infrastructure development that will
streamline the collection of surplus banquet food.
MGM estimates that the extended program will help
provide 100,000 pounds of food, or 800,000 meals, for those
in need by 2020.
Donated food will include hot and cold food from buffet
banquets, including proteins, starches, vegetables, salads,
breads, desserts, etc., per Yalmaz Siddiqui, vice president
corporate sustainability for MGM Resorts International.
MGM Resorts does not donate food from plated dinners or
from buffet trays that were opened. It only collects surplus
banquet food that has not been served.
"Food is collected from hot and/or cold boxes in banquet
kitchens," Siddiqui says. "Food being held for donation has
never been exposed to contamination by being on the buffet
line, employee-dining line, or exposed to customers."
Three Square food bank, Southern Nevada's only food
bank, receives the donations from MGM Resorts. The food
is then blast chilled at the Three Square facility and held
frozen in storage. In turn, Three Square distributes the food
to a service network of approximately 1,300 community part-
ners to reach food-insecure individuals. These hunger relief
agencies later defrost and serve the food based on need.
MGM Resorts and Three Square food safety teams
placed a strong focus on integrating food safety practices
and protocols through all steps of the program design. "Only
food that has been maintained at proper temperatures, per
food safety guidelines, is eligible," Siddiqui says. "Many
teams are involved to enable the safe, efficient, and legally
acceptable donation of food and beverages. Meticulous,
weekly coordination between Three Square and MGM
occurs to ensure timely transportation, vetting of temperatures
and freezing of food."
Hoping to inspire a larger movement to reduce food
insecurity, MGM Resorts plans to share its standard operat-
ing procedures with other hospitality properties.
Siddiqui says the kitchen to community program has rescued
more than 80,000 meals from August 2016 to December
2017 by blast chilling, freezing and inventorying large
quantities of unused food remaining from banquets. "Given
the size of MGM Resorts' convention business in Las Vegas,
donations from our company alone can meaningfully further
reduce food insecurity in Southern Nevada," he says. FE&S
Pickling, canning
or dehydrating
can extend soon-
to-expire foods,
making them
viable for chip
variations, jams,
dips and more.
Photo courtesy of
312Food
"TRASH" COOKING
Many more chefs and even cocktail artists around the country
now strive to reuse trim, scraps and other "trash" for dishes, drinks
and desserts. At Big Jones in Chicago, Chef Paul Fehribach prac-
tices root-to-stem whole vegetable cooking. That means rather
than discarding stalks, tops, leaves, trim and more, he uses those
otherwise trashed scraps in purees, pestos, sauces, soups and
stews. He also pickles, cans or dehydrates soon-to-expire produce
for tasty condiments, charcuterie accoutrement, jams, chips varia-
tions and more.
For example, Fehribach will saute the leaves of ramps as
a side dish and also pickle the bulbs for later use in sauces, or
perhaps as a garnish. And the woodier bottoms of asparagus can
become the base for a bisque.
When cabbages are really fresh and have lots of outer leaves,
Fehribach buys them in bulk to make sauerkraut. He uses the green
leaves to make stuffed cabbage leaves, a popular entree at Big Jones.
The heart, or stem, of the cabbage cooks into soups or stews.
Another multiuse vegetable, sweet potatoes, bring two
dishes to the menu: the sweet potato hash in fine cubes and
sweet potato bisque made with the scraps.